Match Two, Kev Perry Series 2010

The title of Tony Rixon's blog from yesterday, is pretty apt for mine as well.

I went to Bullock Farm on Friday and fished peg 26, it wasn't an easy days fishing, but I managed about 20lb of silvers (mainly big crucians and fantails up to 2lb) and 40lb of carp. Most of the fish taken from the edge of the reed bed on paste. I stuggled to catch in open water, although it seems at the moment when feeding micro pellet or groundbait that there is plenty of fizzing, resulting in foul hookers, but they are not feeding on the hookbait.

So onto Sundays match, Thatchers very own special needs employee, Tom drew me 27 on Match Lake, my heart sank, I have never caught anything worth troubling the scalesmen with from this peg, indeed the last time I drew it I blanked.

The peg had thrown up a decent weight of silvers on the last match (trust Tom to draw it out two matches running) as did peg 30. I set up a caster rig, a Malman winter wire float, 0.11 mainline and a 63.13 size 20 to 0.10. Another rig with 0.13/0.11 and a 18 808 with a MW slim power float for pellet and a similar set up with 0.15/0.13 and a 18 B911 in case the carp showed up.

I also set up a paste rig for the open water and a margin rig that would do for the LH and RH margins, although I've never had a bite from the LH margin, its more barren than a convent full of nuns. The RH margin is very short, before the island ends and you are fishing inro open water, but it does produce a few fish.

At the start I fed a caster line at 1 o'clock 10m, another caster line at 11 o'clock 5m, a pellet line at 30'clock 11m and a throw away line as an experiment at 13m about 10 o'clock with 4mm cubed meat and hemp.

First put in I had a crucian around 6oz on the caster, I had to wait an hour before I had another fish, another crucian from the pellet line. I just wasn't getting bites, not even on single pinkie. By rotating the lines, I managed to stay awake, that and watching Nicky Collins and Mike Nicholls bagging. Lance Tucker was in between them, they doubled his weight, but I think his dripping about the pegging must have washed most of his bait away.

About three hours in I had two better roach from the caster line, but the fish that followed shrunk in size, to just bigger than the caster hookbait. A couple of fish on 4mm cubes of meat over the micro line just about rounded off my silver fishing, which was a piss poor effort - did I do anything drastically wrong, I don't think so, the fish had moved, as pegs that struggled in the first match, sacked up this time round.

Trying to regain some level of respectability, I had spent some time and the last hour persuing carp in the margins, as predicted the LH margin remained fish free. I had gone as far as under the pallet of peg 28, which produced one bite on catmeat. The RH margin gave up a small carp on my first put in, second put in the float went under and the fish snagged in the roots and brambles that cascade into the water on the end of the island. I spent 10 minutes or so with a decent stainless steel weed cutter, removing them and plenty of the sunken roots (which are pretty rotten, but too much of a match for 0.15 or 0.17 powerline). This meant leaving the swim to settle for a while, but I had to set up a new margin rig anyway.

With half an hour to go, I was pretty certain I was last in the section, if not the whole match, if it hadn't been a series I would have had a leisurely pack up, the float went under and a good fish rushed to the brambles and roots to snag me - thankfully they were now led on the bank and after a 10 minute battle a 10lb fish was in the net, hoping to repeat the feat, I dropped back into the margin, but it wasn't to be.

I hadn't had a bite on paste, nor over the meat & hemp line or from my 5m line, a pretty poor day and I am struggling to think what I could have done differently, a change in feeding - more or less? I tried upping the feed towards the end, to no avail, obviously I couldn't try less.

My meagre net of silvers went 2.150KG, the 10lb carp and his little cousin turned the dial round to 5.680KG for a total of 7.830, saving me from last in the section by 70 grams.

Unless I can get a section win every match now, it looks like the series is well gone, so I'll be attacking the last four matches intending to win them.

1) Glen Calvert 24.580KG peg 19 ML
2) Mike Nicholls 22.400KG peg 8 ML
3) Nick Collins 22.070KG peg 10 ML
4) Mike Owens 18.410KG peg 24 ML
5) Paul Faiers 17.550KG peg 14 NP
6) Mark Bromsgrove 15.050KG peg 22 ML

Silvers

1) Mark Bromsgrove 14.350KG peg 22 ML
2) Nick Collins 9.650KG peg 10 ML
3) Mike Owens 8.560KG peg 24 ML
4) Dave Roper 7.840KG peg 18 ML
5) Glen Calvert 7.500KG peg 19 ML
6) Lance (dripping) Tucker 6.950KG peg 9 ML

Overall Table.

1) Mike Owens / 13 / 26.410
2) Tom Thick / 12 / 21.970
3) Mark Bromsgrove / 11 / 11.650
4) Paul Faiers / 10 / 24.910
5) Lewis Jones / 10 / 22.270
6) Kev Perry / 10 / 21.230
7) Bob Gullick / 10 / 18.350
8) Dave Roper / 10 / 16.200


Silvers Table

1) Tom Thick / 14 / 12.850
2) Dave Wride / 13 / 12.650
3) Nick Collins / 12 / 12.650
4) Dave Roper / 12 / 11.100
5) Bob Gullick / 12 / 9.450
6) Andy Hockin / 11 / 8.660
7) Lance Tucker / 11 / 8.290